• 


JOH! 
VAN 

CHENEV 


"\  9- 

s  XT 


'Poems  written  io  Scdh& 
Ij 


T^.]oJo  Fletcher  Seymour 

Publisher 
Qloicago 


Copyright  1922 
Sara  B.  Cheney 


CONTENTS 

Thou  and  I 7 

My  Castle  in  the  Air    ........  13 

The  Way  to  Learn 17 

Sadie 21 

My  Fairest  Fair 25 

For  Sally  on  her  Birthday 29 

To  Sally  on  her  Birthday 33 

Sally 37 

Love's  World      41 

I  Keep  Thy  Memory 45 


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and  round  the 
2  wrong 
nd  about 


Thou  and  I 


Hearthside 


THOU  AND  I 


'OVE,  I  would  have  thee  as  the  snow 

is,  white 
And  pure  on  hilltops  of  the  winter 

day; 
Thou  shouldst  have  sovereign  rule,  the 

spirit  sway 

Of  beauty,  wide  and  shining  as  the  light. 
Thou  shouldst  be  as  the  evening  star  is, 

bright 
As  heaven  can  make  it;  all  thy  summer 

way 

The  melodies  of  June  should  sing  and  play 
In  thee,  the  darling  of  the  day  and  night. 
But  I  would  have  thee  human  first  and  last, 
One  not  untouched  by  trouble,  sought  of 

sin, 
Thine    innocence    not    accident,    but 

choice. 

Fit  then  my  service:   I  should  have  no  past, 
No  future;  newly  would  my  life  begin, 
Obedient  to  the  music  of  thy  voice. 


'i*/-,      52U'*W : 


fast/e  in  the 


Hearth  side 


MY  CASTLE  IN  THE  AIR 

|R  in  the  East  or  in  the  West, 
Where  shall  I  build  my  bird  a  nest? 
Northward  or  southward,  whither 

roam 

To  build  my  little  love  a  home? 
Up  yonder,  in  the  clean,  sweet  air, 
I  think  that  I  could  keep  her,  there, 
Too  much  an  angel  for  the  ground, 
For  heaven  somewhat  too  warm  and  round. 


The  Way  to  J^earn 


Hearthside 


THE  WAY  TO  LEARN 

HE  way  to  learn  how  well  I  love 

you,  Dear? 
Ask  any  of  the  gossip  winds  that 

blow, 
The  thousand  flowers  that  burn  it  where 

they  glow, 
The  happy  hours  that  hold  the  summer 

here; 
Question  the  sound,   the  silence,  far  and 

near, 
The  brook,  which  sings  it  or  must  cease 

to  flow, — 

Ask  all  the  blissful  things  above,  below. 
Their  answer,  Sweet — of  that  I  have  no 

fear; 
For  I  believe  all  life  below,  above, 

Is  leagued  with  love  as  light  is  with  the 

day, 
That  heaven  and  earth  aye  take  the 

lover's  part. 

But  should  all  other  voices  mock  my  love, 
You  will  not  heed  them;  you  will  turn 

away, 

Content  to  have  the  answer  of  your 
heart. 


Sadie 


Hearthside 


SADIE  * 

HEN  you  see  a  plumy  hat 
And  sealskin  sack,  and   inside 

that 

A  little  brisk,  right  busy  lady, 
Why,  mind  your  eye ;  it  may  be  Sadie. 
When  you  follow  softly  after, 
And  chance  to  hear  such  merry  laughter 
As  makes  the  very  sunshine  shady, 
Then,  ten  to  one,  it's  Sukey  Sadie. 
And  should  she  turn  on  you  brown  eyes 
Soft  as  June  dusk  when  daylight  dies 
Along  the  fields  all  bloomy,  bladey, 
Away  with  doubt,  and  swear  it's  Sadie. 
Brown  -  haired,  brown  -  skinned,  and  robin 

round, 

A  sweet-heart  baby,  grown  and  gowned, 
Heart  high,  but  every  inch  a  lady — 
That's  my  little  Sukey  Sadie! 

"Later  called  Sally. 


21. 


Fairest  Fair 


Hearthside 


MY  FAIREST  FAIR 

(HERE  is,  they  say,  no  sweetest 

rose, 
There  is  no  fairest  face ;  for  fancy 

grows 
Its  own  deceiver. 

But,  right  or  wrong,  what  does  love  care? 
I  say,  " World  over,  only  one's  all  fair," 
And  so  believe  her. 


25- 


For  Sally  on  her  'Birthday 


HeartAside 


FOR  SALLY  ON  HER  BIRTHDAY 

IND  you,  Fortune,  have  a  care! 
More  I  ask  than  pipe  and  chair, 
Than  my  Steinway  and  my  book, 
Than  my  Roxy  and  my  nook. 

On  this  February  day 

Abe  and  Darwin  came  our  way; 

Thanks  for  small  favors!     Now  for  more 

Than  you  ever  gave  before. 

Abe  and  Charles,  is  that  the  tally? 

Hark!     To  them  you  added  Sally. 

Little  Sally,  rid  of  ills, 

Knitting  on  the  Mission  Hills — 

Keep  her,  Fortune,  young  and  fair, 

In  the  big  sun-parlor  there; 

Pipe  and  Steinway,  hill  and  valley, 

Nothing  were  without  my  Sally. 


29. 


To  Sally  on  her  ^Birthday 


Hearthside 


TO  SALLY  ON  HER  BIRTHDAY 

;HIS  is  to  her  my  hearthside  and 

my  rest; 
My  lares,  where  she  sets  them  up 

they  stand ; 
Bright  shapes  of  comfort,  quiet,  pleasures 

best- 
She  leads  them  hither  with  her  little  hand. 
She  looking  with  me  in  the  summer  grass, 
Or  up  and  down  the  path  the  wild  stars 

roam, 
I  see  what  meaning,  peace,  the  good  world 

has; 
My  heart  and  I  know  love's  own  roof  and 

home. 

Let  me  not  keep  my  candle  under  cover; 
The  glad  sun  shines  his  joy  out  every 

day  — 
The  sun,   earth's  lord   and   glory,   golden 

lover — 

From  morning  unto  morning  does  he  say: 
"The  while  the  lover  can  his  heart  repeat, 
The  love  in  it  is  growing  sweet  and  sweet." 


33- 


Sally 


Hearthside 


SALLY 

T  was  four  years  ago 
I  found  you,  Dear; 
Love's  happy  seasons  fly 
How  swiftly  by! 

Dear,  do  you  know, 

Know  you,  dear, 

It  seems,  reckon  as  I  may, 

But  yesterday? 

Four  years  have  taken  wing; 

Ere  they  were  here 

How  was  it  I  could  find 

For  heart  and  mind 

Sweet  comforting? 

How  did  I,  dear, 

Before — love  showed  the  place — 

I  saw  your  face? 

Love  well  can  lose  and  lose 

To  win  at  last: 

Now,  through  the  years  to  be 

You  bide  with  me. 

We  cannot  choose, 

The  past  is  past; 

But  I  would  give  it,  dear, 

For  what  is  here. 


37- 


J&ve's  World 


Hearthside 


LOVE'S  WORLD 

|F  the  year  be  at  her  Spring 
I  neither  know  nor  care; 
I  have  the  bird-song  of  your 

speech, 

The  warm  rain  of  your  hair. 
I  question  not  if  thrushes  sing, 
If  roses  load  the  air; 

Beyond  my  heart  I  need  not  reach 
When  all  is  summer  there. 
I  go  not  by  the  blue  above, 
By  grasses  green  or  sere; 

Your  silences,  your  sigh,  your  smile 
They  mark  my  time  o*  year. 
Its  own  brave  wonder- world  has  love; 
So  fair  it  is,  I  fear 

Sometimes  'twill  fade  and  go  the  while 
I  look  upon  you,  dear. 


/  f^eef  Thy  ^Memory 


Hearthsick 


I  KEEP  THY  MEMORY 

KEEP  thy  memory  as  the  hill- 
hold  tops 
The  sun  when  light  has  left  the 

valley  way; 
With  dream  of  thee  I  lengthen  out  the 

day: 
Nor  dark  does  shut  thee  out,  nor  slumber — 

fold. 

Day  sinking,  up  the  lovely  stars  are  rolled ; 
The  hill  forgets  the  peerless  sun  in  play 
Of  feebler  fires;  but  thou  dost  with  me 

stay: 
My  night,  my  midnight,  wears  the  morning 

gold. 

I  keep  thy  memory,  and  I  count  it  truth 
That  love,  once  come  to  men,  shall  never 

go; 
I  keep  thy  memory,  and  the  world  is 

fair, 

Yea,  beautiful  all  life  with  fadeless  youth. 

Loving  may  be  but  dreaming.     Even  so, 

The  heaven  in  my  heart,  I  keep  it  there. 


45- 


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